St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-03-07
AN Anniversary SERMON.
The Duties OF Christians Set Forth
i'm n Clear Manner.

Rev. Frank MillSpaugh preached his an
nlversary sermon, showing the work of a
year, and for which the parish has reason
to rejoice, from Isaiah xii, 1-''For Zion's
sake will not hold My face" from which
we quote: A solemn message is commit
ted to us by the very fact of our belief in
Jesus Christ and his work. With this faith
comes responsibilities of which no Christian
can denude himself-to warn the wicked
man to turn from his wickedness; to blow
the trumpet, when we see the sword COM
ing, to peal into the ears of men sunkeD in
earthlinesS and dreaming of safety. the cry
which may startle anG scare, "Watchman.
what, what Of the right" Again, those
who trust God. remind Him of His promises
by their very faith. 1t is a mute appeal to
His faithful care, which He cannot but an
swer. Prayerless work will soon sacken
and never bear fruit. Idle prayer is worse
than idle; you cannot part them if you
would. How much of the busy occupation
which is called Christian work is detected
to be spurious by this very test. God asks
not romantic impoSsibilitieS from us. but He
does ask q continuous, systematic discharge
of the duties which depend ON our relation
to the world and on our relation to Him.
Let it be our LIES work to show forth His
praise" He continued, ut is nearly
seven years since the first meeting was held
looking TO the formation of St.Pauls parish.
AS the result of the work of my predeces-
sors. faithful pariShioners and my own
within ten as many persons have been bap-
lized this year as in the history of the par
ish. Twenty have been confirmed and ten
more await the apostolic rite. May it be
but a fifth of the number who will present
themselves at the time. One hundred and
fOrty-tive have been added to the list of
communicates. l have married eight
couples and committed nineteen bodies to
Gods Acre-one of these, rare example to
his brothers of devout life and death,
asking for the holy communion as his last
act before his entrance into paradise. An
other was one of the founders of the parish
and almost constantly the instructor of the
youth in the doctrines of the church Of
Christ. Another remembered before her
death that what she had in worldly goods
was given her Of the Lord, and gave in re-
turn goodly portion for carrying on the
Sheltering Arms, our home for orphans and
half orphans" He continued to speak of
the organization of the parish aud their sew
eral deeds of loving kindness. among which
was the Parish aid, which was contributing
$500 a year for charitable work; the Mis-
sionaIy society, which had sent boxes TO
missionaries valued at S170; St. Andrews
brotherhood, the first organized in this do
cese, which worked for the good of young
men; the Young Womens guild, which at
tends to church decoration and vestments;
the committee for st. BarnabuS hos
pital, which had furnished two
rooms at an expense of $3.50. and the
committee for Shelsering Arms and several
Others He added: You should be very
happy over the fact that although you gave
so much for the debt on the parish church
you were unselfish enough to give over
5000 for missionary and charitable work
outside the parish. The parish is not the
end of our Christian work, but the means
through which we assert an influence for
good. People who have been baptized, con-
1irmed and are communicates, ask man
much like themselves, but set apart by an
ordination which reaches to Christ through
the apostles. to be their spiritual guide. He
comes to help them to bring others to the
Savior by the acceptance of baptism, con-
firmation and the holy communion. accom-
panied by repentance and faith. He comes
to help them to be better. He is not to
lord it over Gods heritage, nor is he to do
all this himself. Let us be mindful of the
fact that in this work on earth for the
saving of our own and our brothers soul
the question is not how little but how much
can we do. He closed with statement of
the debt. declaring it to be the one thing
which stood in the way of aggressive work,
and beSought his people to ''erase mans
debt from Gods property"